The Herd That Broke Me

• Peyton Keating, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

All of me hurts, and the more I move the more pain I find myself in. My friends surround me, looking nothing but perfect. My insecurities flutter throughout my body.

She says my imperfections perfect me. Like how every uneven stripe looks exceedingly beautiful. But I know the truth. The others all have even stripes, and their hair is so evenly distributed. But I’m a whole other story. Some of them say they wouldn’t classify me as a zebra, and that's what breaks me.

Every day I wake up to join my herd, and I just feel empty, like a whole part of me has disappeared. The pain is from trauma. Growing up my dad never supported me, he never wanted me to ‘embarrass’ myself by putting myself out there. After a while he left, because he was fed up with my mother and I. I would always try to support my mother, but I couldn’t take myself out of my own problems with my friends.

For years I have listened to the hate, the hate from my friends and peers. I’ve tried to come back but they broke me.

My mother was the only one who believed in me. My teacher would look at me funny, even strangers. Ever since my father left, I’ve found a new love, in something that I do. Every Saturday morning I play a game, I train on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 5-6 pm. I feel free when I play the game, I get to run around and feel exhilarating excitement from being comfortable with myself, and know that my skills are all I need to be successful. My dream is to play in front of everyone one day. Do you think it will ever happen?